


Dancing Demons and Freckled Boys

by orphan_account



Category: Star vs. The Forces Of Evil
Genre: Aged-Up Characters, Friends to Lovers, Lovers to Friends, M/M, im weak to enemies to lovers don't come for me, in which star and tom are not good for each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-30
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2019-02-23 22:36:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13200000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Tom and Marco started off hating each other. A few years down the line and maybe they hate each other a little less.





	Dancing Demons and Freckled Boys

Oh, Tom.

No matter how much time passed, Tom always ended up frustrated and pushing people away. He didn't really get angry at other people anymore, mostly at himself. For messing up. Star and Marco were only friends and in his head Tom  _knew_  that, he really did. He just couldn't help the wave of ugly wrath that threatened to touch him, as if he were standing on a lava beach and the magmatic waves ticked his toes, never fully touching him but radiating heat into his skin.

His anger was the same way. Taunting him out of reach, threatening that if he slipped it would crash over him.

Marco and Star were friends.

Marco and  _Tom_  were friends.

Star and Tom were... what?  _Were_  they a couple, really? It was to the point where he wasn't even sure anymore. He wasn't sure if they were even  _friends_  sometimes.

They fought and bickered and screamed at each other; they went from mostly dating to some fighting to mostly fighting and some dating.

Marco, Tom knew, was his friend at least.

Marco was kind, smart, and patient. Hades, was that boy patient. Tom had his anger under control, for the most part but something about Star just fucked him over a bit too much, and even though Tom could never manage to get the words out he felt like Marco understood.

It was when the Annual Blood Waltz came around that Tom was put to the test.

The situation: Star was angry at Tom, nothing new there. This time Tom had an easy way back into her graces; Star  _loved_  balls. Tom knew it was going to be the easiest way to get her to talk to him.

The problem: Tom wasn't sure if he even  _wanted_  Star there. She'd probably invite Ponyhead or some other friend and spend nearly the whole night with them. There was really only one person Tom thought he'd truly enjoy spending time with: Marco.

Problem Part Two: If Star found out that Tom invited Marco instead, that might be  _it_.

Tom thought about it a second and then decided. He stood in front of the mirror and pressed a button.

"Hey Tom! Didn't expect to hear from you."

"Hey there! I was just wondering if you'd want to come here this Friday evening? As my plus-one to the Blood Waltz. Nothing like the Blood Moon Ball, don't worry." Tom heard a chuckle.

"Yeah sure!"

"Oh! And if you wouldn't mind, maybe keep this a lowkey thing? Just you and me tomorrow night."

"Sure. See you around, what, six?" Tom nodded happily, waving bye.

"See you then!"

Marco sat down on his bed, phone in hand. Tom had asked him to some dance and basically told him "no Star allowed." He kinda understood. After two years of them dating, he was more than familiar with the way they worked. It was probably best that Tom didn't bother Star for a few days. Maybe a week.

-:-

Marco had been to his fair share of balls in the three years he'd known Star. He used to need her help and advice on what to wear, but now felt comfortable picking something himself.

He told Star and his parents that he was going to spend the night with Alfonzo and Ferguson and they waved him off, his clothes in his bag. When he was far enough away, he cut a slit in the air with his dimensional scissors and stepped into Tom's room. He was face-down on the bed, groaning.

"Uh... Hey Tom." Marco waved awkwardly? And Tom sat up in surprise. "Did I come too early? Sorry, I can go do something else if you want some time?" Marco wasn't really sure what time it was, he'd just left when the sun was going down. Then again winter was settling in, so maybe it was earlier?

"No it's fine! I just didn't expect you to be here so soon! Totally fine- Uh, is that what you're wearing?" Tom motioned to Marco, who laughed and pulled out an edgy-enough looking suit.

"Had to leave in something casual." Tom nodded with a shrug, motioning for Marco to sit down.

"Wanna play some video games until it's time to get ready?" Marco practically leapt onto the bed next to him.

"Oh, you're on!" Years of practice has led up to this very moment.

Marco lost every race. Mario Kart was a ruthless battleground, and Tom blue and red shelled his enemies without remorse, leaving bananas in every blind spot, not to mention his perfectly timed backwards green shells. The man was an artist in war.

-:-

When they were both ready for the ball, one of the servants knocked on the door to notify them it was time.

"Y'know Diaz, you actually clean up pretty well. That's saying something for royal demon standards." Tom grinned on their walk to the ballroom.

"Honored to receive such high praise from you, my lordly prince of hell." Marco flourished, bowing as they walked side by side. Over the years they'd developed similar senses of humor, one they rarely used with others.

"Oh, to have such a nobleman now to me I should be the one honored!" Tom chuckled back, relieved that he'd chosen Marco tonight. If Star has been there it would've felt suffocating, like he was walking on bloodhorn shells.

As they entered the ballroom, still chuckling and joking, the room quieted to take a look at the Crowned Prince and his chosen invitee.

Marco was floored. He almost had to ask Tom if they were still actually in the underworld. One look at all the demons and he knew, but another glance at the room...

The floor was tiled, unlike the rest of the cavernous castle, and the walls seemed plush, lined with crimson velvet. Everything was fresh and sparkling, but at the same time terrifying.

Sure, the room was gorgeous and dreamlike but as soon as he more than skimmed the room, actually taking it all in, he felt his heart drop to his stomach.

Some guests' clothes were stained with blood, many had the stain of blood around their mouths. He first thought it could've been something Tom served at the buffet table, but Marco saw a demon in the corner of the room, curled in the fetal position as a pool of blood gathered around him. There was a chunk missing from his neck, his legs were scratched up and bitten, and Marco didn't even  _want_  to know what the rest of him looked like.

Tom could sense his discomfort and put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's gonna be fine. No one's gonna mess with the Prince's date." Tom winked with a chuckle, and Marco wasn't sure if the churning in his stomach was from excitement or disappointment.

"Yeah, totally. I'll just, uh, stick to you. Like glue." Tom laughed at that, slinging an arm around Marco's shoulders.

"C'mon, my parents are this way." Marco forced his legs to move, nervous. He'd seen Tom's parents before but he'd never actually talked to them or been formally introduced.

"Tom! How lovely to see you! Your mother and I weren't even sure that you were coming." His father grinned, then settled his eyes on Marco. "And who is this human boy?"

"Dad, meet Marco. Marco, my dad Lord Dave." Dave's handshake was crushing, though Marco didn't let it show on his face.

"It's a pleasure to meet you sir." Marco smiled. Parents loved him, what with his- very  _false!_ \- reputation of being the "Safety Kid" and all.

"I didn't realize goody-goody had become your type." Lord Dave said to son, a disapproving hint to his tone. Tom pointedly looked to his mom.

"Mom, this is Marco. Marco, this is Queen Wrathmelior. She, uh, doesn't talk much." Marco smiled and waved to her, not getting much response. Tom led him away briskly, weaving through the dancing bodies with ease.

"I don't know when people will realize! I'm a misunderstood bad boy, the baddest of them all." Marco sighed, shoulders sagging.

"It's the mole, really." Tom shrugged, a smirk on his face as he looked at Marco. Someone tapped Marco in the shoulder, and he turned to see a demon over two feet taller than him, a septum ring coming out of his bull-like nose. The demon extended a hand to Marco, grinning wide.

"May I take this dance?" Marco felt a shiver run up his spine. He wasn't  _scared_ , that would be  _ridiculous_ , it was just... cold. In the underworld. Surrounded by fire.

"Oh no, no. He's with me." Tom slung an arm around Marco's waist and glared until the demon gave up. "One thing you should probably know is don't dance with anyone here tonight. The Blood Waltz is kinda competitive. There's this whole team and points system, it's really best not to get involved."

"Why not?" Marco remembered the demon he saw when he first walked in.

"You lose the battle, each competitor that won gets a bite." Marco blanched in distaste, crinkling his nose. Tom shrugged.

"So what do we do the whole night? If we're not gonna be dancing at, y'know, a  _dance_." Marco looked around, finding more and more demons duking it out through step as others gathered to watch.

"I could give you a tour? You really only spend time in my room when you're over." Tom suggested, peering around as more demons gathered interest in Marco.

"Sure, that'd be cool!" Marco grinned, letting Tom show him out.

"First thing you should know is that the whole castle is underground. I mean, obviously because it's the underworld but specifically the castle too."

"We're under the underworld?" Tom chuckled at that, nodding.

"Think of it like Mewnie, how Butterfly castle is above two other castles. We're below the ground, though, no other castle here.

Marco thought about it trying to picture the layout of where things would be to fix and edit as Tom showed him around. For the most part he was right, the basics were the most easily accessible to the entrance/exit- Tom said there was only one way to get in or out that everyone but the royal family knew about. The higher they got, closer to the surface, the more basic things were. The important stuff was deeper within, harder to find. Safety.

Starting at the top there were multiple foyers, multiple living-rooms and dens, and a small library filled with basic history books and such. The next level in was a living space for servants and such, and through advanced tunnel design and maybe a but of magic the next floor down also happened to be just a small ramp down. The kitchen and things, another library with basic magic information, spells and potion recipes apparently. It's where the servants ate and such as well.

Next was the heavily guarded kitchen and eating area for the family. "We don't really ever eat together here, though. Mom and Dad are usually busy, so I just end up eating in my room." Marco tried to imagine the three of them gathered in the massive space- he couldn't.

Next down was another library, this one filled with important documents and advanced spellcasting techniques and potions. Tom said that the Forbidden History supposedly resided somewhere within. "Yeah, it's too big in there to find even if the History wasn't charmed to hide itself unless it deemed you worthy." Marco really,  _really_  wanted to see it, even though he had no real desire to read through it. Something about it was luring, and not just the fact that he'd be deemed "worthy." Something else.

There was also an observatory that would show you the stars for any dimension. Attached was a tower with a secret entrance where a strong half-demon-half-wizard lived, perfecting his spells and recreating them and perfecting them again. "Dude's a bit of a hermit, but he's cool f you can find him."

Then there was an entire section dedicated to security. Past it was Tom's room.

"That's most of the castle. I think." Marco tilted his head to the side, eyes narrowed. "What?! Even if you spent your whole life here you wouldn't know where everything is either!" Tom huffed, arms crossed.

"Heh, probably. You down for some Mario Kart?" Tom grinned.

"Oh you're on!"

-:-

Tom won, like nearly always. The two ate dinner that the servants brought to Tom's room, discussing the Jackie Hand inspired cartoon series, Hammie Foot.

"It's totally ridiculous! You can't just slap a body part on it and make it seem original! They're totally butchering everything the movies offered." Marco fumed.

"Right! They're trying to make it an exact replica of the original, which is fucking stupid since you can't just have something great and make offspring from it then try to make it exactly like the original! What about individuality and creativity!" Marco nodded, throwing his arms up into the air.

"And! Listen the originals were amazing, absolutely 100% some of the best film I've ever seen I mean c'mon they're genius, but this series has potential to be great too! It's own brand of great." Marco thought about the main character Hammie, who gets made fun of at school for his name. They totally could've done something with that instead of making it a side thing that never got brought back up. But noooo they went with the main plot points in every single Jackie Hand movie and tried to squish them down into something else.

"Right! Maybe what the world needs is change. Something fresh, something that isn't the same leader for thousands of years, each new ruler just the replica of the old one. Someone who's an individual." Marco thought that maybe they weren't talking about Jackie Hand anymore.

"My parents want me to be just like them, just like Mom's parents before her! Just like every other Lucitor who became ruler. I'm  _not_  my mom, I'm  _not_  her parents! I'm  _Tom-fucking-Lucitor!_ " Marco understood that, no, they were definitely not talking about Jackie Hand.

"Tom?" At his name, Tom's eyes returned to their normal shade, fists relaxing.

"Sorry about that, I just..." Tom laid back on the bed, staring at the ceiling for a moment. "They keep making me take stupid classes on politics. It's bad enough that I fucking  _hate_  politics, but they're making me learn it  _their_  way, making me resolve hypothetical issues their way. Everything is about being the strongest, the most powerful, the bloodiest." Marco laid next to him, prepped up on an elbow.

"I'm tired of being expected to be just like my parents, I'm not them and I don't want to rule like them." Tom was open in a way Marco wasn't sure he'd ever seen before. It made his heart sink to know how much pressure was being put on him.

"I only have a couple more years now. Until I have to become King." Tom didn't say  _and it's only gonna get worse_ , but Marco heard it anyway. He did the only thing he could think of.

"When I was little, my mom would sing me a song to calm me down, whether it was after nightmares or being bullied or getting hurt. It always helped." Singing was surprisingly popular in the Underworld, from opera to rap, basically if you could sing you were considered a celebrity. Many demons were not the best entertainers, so one that could was highly revered. Tom, being the prince and all, had heard singing in the underworld before, but Marco's singing was different.

Marco's voice was oddly smooth, Tom probably would've expected it to be squeaky if he'd thought about it before. It was unlike demonic singing, gentle in a way only humans could be. And the story was prevalent

An unnamed kid has a shitstorm thrown at them, and they feel like they're gonna drown in it all until the sun shines. It's a friend, a partner, a lover, someone who just tells them to breathe. So they do. And then they stand, they fight, they keep going. Tom really wants to breathe.

The two of them don't really talk about it afterwards, just continue on with the night. It's not like either of them are pretending it didn't happen, Tom's almost-meltdown just feels so insignificant now that it's easy to just... accept and move past. Tom is breathing again, and he's standing up, that's all that matters now.

-:-

Star calls to ask him how Ferguson and Alfonzo were doing, and Marco had to stop himself from asking what she meant. He just said they were good and maybe he'd hang out with them again soon. That is, Tom had asked if Marco wanted to hang out more. Marco wasn't even sure why he felt like he needed to lie to Star about it!

Was he guilty? Why would he feel  _guilty_  for hanging out with one of his best friends? It shouldn't matter that both of his best friends were dating, because  _they were his best friends_. It still helped ease his mind that Star didn't spend too much time at his house anymore, getting trained for her coronation in a few years after all. Marco couldn't even trust his diary with the information, knowing Janna would read it eventually.

-:-

Star invited Tom over to Mewnie for a picnic, the news shocking Marco. They were in the middle of another fight, what was Star doing? She was usually the adamant, stubborn one. Marco spent the day with Sensei, doing more training for his black belt.

Star tried to make the day perfect, filled with strange coincidences for Tom to apologize for the whole Thorn Lilly debacle. First, they'd prepare the lunch themselves. Sandwiches, the perfect excuse for Tom to be a gentleman and cut the crusts.

Star watched as he picked up the one he made and ate it straight away. Okay, no problem, not an issue. It's just crust. Just sandwiches.

An older servant, a poor old lady that had served generations of Mewnie Queens, struggled to bring a chest of weaponry up the castle steps- Star would have thank her for her screams of pain "Oh my joints!"

Tom picked up a dagger that was poking out of the overfilled chest and looked at it, shrugging before putting it back.

O kay, that was fine too. Just... an old lady struggling to get up the steps. Star was a little irked, but no biggie. Tom would have to do something decent eventually.

At their picnic spot, a field of honeycrisp flowers, Tom set up the blanket and grabbed some plates and the wine, so that was something. Then he fixed two plates for himself.

Not. An. Issue.

Star pointed out how lovely the flowers were, and Tom smiled. He picked one, giving it a small whiff. Then he ate it.

Star's eye twitched as he spat it back out, claiming it was way too sweet.

"How are we even doing this right now?" Star mumbled, facing stubbornly away from him. Tom cocked his head, confused.

"Doing what? Having a picnic? Because I do seem to remember that this was  _your_  idea-"

"Not the picnic,  _this_!" Star motioned between them. "Tom... We're way too different. I'm sorry."

Tom felt like he should scream, like he should be bursting into flames. He felt like he  _should_  be angry. Like out of every point in his life, this should be the moment that all hell breaks loose.

He just felt... content, almost. The same way he'd felt a minute ago. Honestly, he more more shaken by his lack of anger than the fact that Star had just dumped him. Again.

-:-

Life went on, as life tends to do. Marco felt less weird about hanging out with Tom, and Star spent less time on earth- the times she did visit she was with Janna, especially if Tom was around. It went by like that for months, really. Tom would finish his princely duties and visit Marco, or vice versa after a couple hours of homework and studying. Star would spend time with Janna or Marco or stay at home.

It was an easy groove to get into.

Nothing stays still for long. It's one fateful night, a sleepover at Marco's house, that Marco realizes something. It's not as earth-shaking as one might think, it's just a really simple realization that just kinda clicks for him.

He and Tom are inside a pillow fort- Tom liked doing the whole "human sleepover experience" thing- just chatting about Love Sentence's newest album. Tom thinks "Heartbreak, Heartstruck" is about a couple that's literally perfect for each other, they're both just too blind to see it. Marco argues that, no, the love interest clearly doesn't reciprocate their feelings from their point of view, all because they can't shed their own insecurities.

The two of them are analyzing the lyrics pulled up on Marco's phone, squeezed together and hands touching to hold it. Marco turns to look at Tom, and he just kinda stops. Tom is closer to him than he's ever been before, and Marco can see that he put a lot of effort into his appearance. The smell of his hairspray, which Marco had long ago gotten used to, was prevalent now. It was crisper, somehow.

"Hey did you change your hairspray?" This stops Tom, and he meets Marco's eyes.

"Yeah? Is it really that noticeable? The formula is supposed to be better for your hair." Tom glanced up, as if trying to see how his hair looked.

"It looks fine, I just noticed it is all." Tom looks back at the phone, reading over the third verse again. Marco's still distracted by Tom, inspecting his face. His face had really filled out over the past couple years, his cheekbones and jaw more defined now. Before he could think about it, he poked Tom's face.

"You good tonight, man?" Tom asked, a brow raising in confusion.

"Yeah, just looking at your face." Marco sounds more nonchalant than he thinks he ever has in his entire life. Tom looks at his face too.

Marco wasn't the only one who'd filled out. Tom had watched as the human grew and adjusted through puberty. His voice was lower, his height was finally just a hair under Tom's, minus the hair, and his face had developed a plethora of freckles. Oh, and his butt was nice too. Pretty great, actually.

Marco likes the way Tom's eyes look. He likes the way a lot of Tom looks now, not that he thought Tom used to look  _bad_ , he just appreciated it more now. He put a hand on Tom's face again, just to see if his skin was soft and, yeah wow it was. He felt warm, not just because of the obvious "you're touching a fire demon right now" thing, but warm as in "I want to kiss a fire demon right now" thing. So he did.

Tom was warm too, not because he was a fire demon but because he was a fire demon who had just kissed a very cute Marco Diaz human boy. He did it again.


End file.
